Russian court rejects appeal to free Ukrainian pilot Savchenko

Ukrainian jailed military officer Nadezhda Savchenko listens to the court's decision in a cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. A Russian court has rejected an appeal to release a Ukrainian military officer who has been on hunger strike since mid-December. The case of Nadezhda Savchenko has attracted high attention in recent weeks as concerns rise about her health. who has been on hunger strike since mid-December. The case of Nadezhda Savchenko has attracted high attention in recent weeks as concerns rise about her health. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
(The Associated Press)

Ukrainian jailed military officer Nadezhda Savchenko, center, escorted from a court room in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. A Russian court has rejected an appeal to release a Ukrainian military officer who has been on hunger strike since mid-December. The case of Nadezhda Savchenko has attracted high attention in recent weeks as concerns rise about her health. who has been on hunger strike since mid-December. The case of Nadezhda Savchenko has attracted high attention in recent weeks as concerns rise about her health. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
(The Associated Press)

Vira Savchenko, sister of Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko speaks during her interview for The Associated Press in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. A Russian court on Wednesday rejected an appeal to release a Ukrainian military officer Nadezhda Savchenko charged in the death of two Russian journalists who has been on hunger strike since mid-December. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
(The Associated Press)

MOSCOW – A Russian court has rejected an appeal to release a Ukrainian pilot who has been on hunger strike since mid-December.

The case of Nadezhda Savchenko has attracted high attention in recent weeks as concerns rise about her health.

Savchenko has been in Russian custody since June on charges that she provided information for a mortar attack that killed two Russian journalists covering the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Last fall, she was elected a member of the Ukrainian parliament. The appeal that was rejected on Wednesday asked for her to be released in order to attend a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The assembly's head a day earlier said "time is running out" to save Savchenko's life.